Pittsburgh Penguins @ Washington Crapitals 0-4 - 01/29

In preparing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Crapitals were in the midst of experiencing a swift reversal of fortune. Between Dec. 4 and Jan. 14, Washington's 14-1-4 record was the NHL's best. The Capitals followed that stretch by losing four straight (0-3-1), a slump that exposed flaws previously masked by their success. The Capitals certainly welcomed a game against a longstanding rival to work through their struggles, doing so in a 4-0 victory against the Penguins at Verizon Center on Wednesday. Alex Ovechkin scored twice for Washington (25-14-9), overtaking New York Rangers forward Rick Nash and Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 29. He has 13 goals in his past 13 games. Eric Fehr and Mike Green also scored for the Capitals, who trail the Penguins by three points for second place in the Metropolitan Division. Washington has trimmed that deficit by nine points since Dec. 4. In his return from a lower-body injury, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby skated 19:42 with three shots on goal. He lost 17 of 24 faceoffs. Pittsburgh (27-13-8) has not scored in two games against Washington this season. Among the Capitals' identified problem areas as of late was puck management. A strong offensive-zone effort led to their first goal. After Nicklas Backstrom retrieved the puck from Jay Beagle near the right half-wall, he sent a cross-ice pass to Karl Alzner at the left point. Alzner flung the puck toward the net, where Ovechkin deflected it underneath Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's right arm at 4:50 of the first period. With Washington on the power play late in the second period, Ovechkin received a set-up pass from Green and shot a one-timer from his customary left-circle position past Fleury at 17:19 for his League-leading 13th power-play goal of the season. It gave Ovechkin his 93rd career multi-goal game, tying Peter Bondra for the Capitals record. In the third period, Fehr scored his 15th goal of the season at 11:02 when Washington's third line applied heavy pressure in the offensive zone. Fehr scooped up a loose puck and beat Fleury in tight. Green scored his fifth shortly after at 12:24, finishing a 2-on-1 with Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Penguins Quotes

Sidney Crosby: "We had a few opportunities, but we need to create more if we want to win a game. We just didn't do that, so ultimately it comes down to us and finding ways to either [get] guys in front or make plays. But we've got to compete more. … It was a fairly close game throughout until the second half of the third [period] there, but we didn't generate enough, obviously, to score [and] to gain enough momentum pretty consistently. Just for whatever reason, [we] didn't execute."
Mike Johnston: "I thought coming [into] the second period, it played out the same way [as the first period]. It was hard for us to generate, but it wasn't like we were giving up a lot. Then that power play goal [by Ovechkin], I thought was a key goal for them. They got some momentum off the two power plays in the second period."